Tuesday, August 5, 2008: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
202 B, Midwest Airlines Center
OOS 6 - Integrating Modern Instrumentation Into Undergraduate Ecology Education: Case Studies and Strategies
The teaching of undergraduate ecology courses increasingly utilizes modern instrumentation. The effective use of instrumentation can both provide an effective learning environment and prepare our students for future careers in ecology. However, utilizing instrumentation can be challenging in the undergraduate teaching environment. This session is a collection of talks describing strategies and case studies in which various types of ecologically related instrumentation have been integrated into undergraduate education. We focus on both the challenges we have encountered and outline strategies that have been effective. The session uses gas exchange, gene sequencing, and other types of ecologically relevant equipment as case studies illustrating how equipment can effectively be used as active learning tools in the undergraduate setting. The speakers in this session have instructional experience ranging from large tier-one research universities to small liberal arts colleges. The overarching focus of the session will be to provide meaningful suggestions for instrument integration into undergraduate education.
Organizer:Jed P. Sparks, Cornell University
Moderator:Carmody K. McCalley, Cornell University
8:00 AMOOS 6-1LEEF: Tools for integrating gas exchange techniques into undergraduate curricula
Jed P. Sparks, Cornell University
8:20 AMOOS 6-2Curricular integration of DNA analyzer promotes discovery-based learning at UCLA
Erin Sanders-Lorenz, UCLA, Gaston Pfluegl, UCLA, Ann M. Hirsch, UCLA
8:40 AMOOS 6-3Integrating gas-exchange equipment into a field-based undergraduate experience
James D. Lewis, Fordham University
9:00 AMOOS 6-4Revitalizing "mature" instrumentation for teaching: An introductory lab exercise on photosynthesis using the LI-6200 gas exchange system
Laurel J. Anderson, Ohio Wesleyan University
9:20 AMOOS 6-5The effect of polyploidization on photosynthetic activity in Arabidopsis
Andreas Madlung, University of Puget Sound
9:40 AM Break
9:50 AMOOS 6-6Teaching the process of science: The vital role of field-based ecology classes in science education
Jesse Bellemare, Cornell University
10:10 AMOOS 6-7Addressing “real-world” needs: An innovative undergraduate semester in conservation studies
Jennifer A. Sevin, Smithsonian Institution, Francisco Dallmeier, Smithsonian Institution, Anne Marchant, George Mason University, Tom Wood, George Mason University, Steve Monfort, Smithsonian Institution
10:30 AMOOS 6-8Public lectures on evolutionary ecology by undergraduates - jumping off the bridge, blind, with expensive, fancy equipment in an unpredictable environment
Travis E. Huxman, University of Arizona, Mitchell Pavao-Zuckerman, University of Arizona, Henry Adams, University of Arizona

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See more of The 93rd ESA Annual Meeting (August 3 -- August 8, 2008)